Stop Live Transport: Compassion Edinburgh Volunteers won’t be cowed

Local supporters of leading farm animal welfare charity, Compassion in World Farming will be taking action to #StopLiveTransport this weekend.

On Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd June, Compassion Edinburgh – Local Volunteer Group will be holding a stall at the Meadows Festival to help raise awareness of the long distance transport of farm animals. There will be a visual stunt, throughout both days whereby volunteers in cow onesies, will cram into a crate for 100 minutes to represent the cramped, 100 hour long journeys Scottish calves have to endure.  

In addition, on the 14th June, events will be held across the world to demonstrate global opposition to this horrific trade, including a flagship rally at Parliament Square, London.

Animal and Plant Health Agency figures show that 5,557 unweaned, mainly male calves discarded by the dairy industry were dispatched from Scotland to farms in Spain and Italy last year for fattening as veal or beef. These journeys take around 100 hours including rest stops along the way.

There is a substantial trade of cattle from Spain to Turkey, Lebanon, Algeria and Libya. It is possible that some Scottish calves, after being fattened in Spain, are re-exported to these countries.

The prospect of Scottish calves being re-exported from Spain to Turkey, the Middle East and North Africa is deeply disturbing. Compassion in World Farming and other animal welfare organisations have investigated slaughter in this region for many years. Slaughter methods are invariably utterly inhumane and in breach of the international standards on the welfare of animals at slaughter of the World Organisation for Animal Health.

The UK Government’s environment secretary Michael Gove is considering a ban on live exports for slaughter. Compassion in World Farming is pressing him to also ban the export of young calves for fattening. But Fergus Ewing, Holyrood’s Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy and Connectivity, has confirmed  the Scottish Government would oppose any such ban as it would be “economically damaging” for Scottish farmers.

Many famous faces are lending their support to the day of action on 14 June, including Absolutely Fabulous actress and campaigner Joanna Lumley, who is calling on the public to get involved: “Millions of vulnerable animals are transported on excessively long journeys every year. They are crammed into overcrowded vehicles and often not provided with sufficient food, water or rest. Their experience is unimaginable.

“ I have supported calls to Stop Live Transport for decades but this cruel trade still continues. On 14 June, please join me in supporting Stop Live Transport: International Awareness Day and help be the voice of the voiceless.”

14 June has been chosen for this year’s Stop Live Transport: International Awareness Day, as it marks the anniversary of one of the worst live transport disasters of recent times. 13,000 sheep set sail on board the Trust1 ship from Romania, on 21 May 2015, where they spent a gruelling 24 days at sea with insufficient provisions and inadequate care. By the time the Trust1 finally docked in Somalia on 14 June 2015 all the sheep were dead – having suffered from extreme dehydration, starvation and exhaustion.

“The horrors of the Trust1 highlights the terrible suffering animals face when transported over long distances”, says Sean Gifford, Head of Public Campaigns at Compassion in World Farming. “Sadly, there are hundreds of other disasters just like this that haven’t made headline news but where animals suffer, and no one is held accountable. It is simply inhumane for animals to be transported on such long journeys where fear, pain and death at the end of such journeys, are inevitable.”

Compassion Edinburgh – Local Volunteer Group that supports Compassion in World Farming said: “In Scotland, the Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy and Connectivity, Fergus Ewing, has said the Scottish Government would oppose a ban. That’s why we will be adding our voice on the 2nd & 3rd June to help raise awareness of the horrors associated with this barbaric trade. Come and help us make a change!”